Daemon
by BabyKakes
Summary: Daemon comes to Mainframe and its up to Bob and the rest to stop her.
1. Part 1

Prologue 

Prologue   
  
  
Billy was a guardian. She came from the Super Computer, and since it was such a huge city, she wasn't well known at all. She had long, wavy blond hair, with tanned peach skin. Her eyes were green, and she was quite pretty.   
  
Walking home one day, she passed the city science lab and immediately got bad vibes. Vira, her keytool, started beeping. "What?" she frowned, checking it out. There was something definitely strange going on in that science lab. Frowning, she headed toward it.   
  
Inside was quiet and peaceful. There wasn't anyone at the front desk, so she breezed on through and headed for the back of the building. So what if someone catches me? She thought, I'm a guardian, I have a right to be here.   
  
Pushing through two swinging double doors, she burst into some sort of lab. It was empty, and the counters were bare except for a small petri dish. Her keytool's beeping got louder, and she slowly approached it. Billy frowned as she picked the dish up. Inside was some sort of greenish glowing bacteria, slowly multiplying, nearly taking up the whole dish.  
  
"Be careful with that!"  
  
Billy bit back a scream and dropped her hands, the dish landing back on the counter. Jumping with surprise, she made sure the dish was steady and unbroken before turning to see who cried out at her. It was a male sprite, just like her, dressed in a lab coat and goggles. "Oh!" she cried, "I didn't know anybody was here!"  
  
"You must be careful with that," he repeated, walking up to her. He picked up the dish to make sure everything was still intact, then set it back down. "You have no idea what's in that. Who are you, what's your format, and why are you here?"  
  
"My name's Billy Disc," she replied, "and I'm a guardian. I'm here because my keytool was getting strange readings from this building."   
  
"Funny," he frowned, "you don't look like a guardian."  
  
Billy looked down at herself. It was true; she wasn't wearing the guardian uniform that's usually recommended for this kind of job title. She was wearing leather, no-sleeve, black vest, black leather pants, and black leather boots. Her guardian icon was clear, though, and her key tool was visible. Why would he have any doubts?  
  
"I'm not here to be judged," she said, "I'm here on business. Now, are you going to tell me your name and exactly what this..." she gestured toward the disk, "is?"  
  
He looked at her skeptically, then sighed. "My name's Acer Green, and I'm sorry for being so judgmental, but this lab really is dangerous and outsiders aren't supposed to be in here without protective gear."  
  
"I'm a guardian, most of that stuff doesn't qualify for me," she replied. She held up the petri dish. "What exactly is this?"  
  
"That," he replied, "is Daemon. A super virus."  
  
Billy's eyes widened and she nearly dropped the tray. Setting it back down, she looked at Acer. "You are growing a super virus in this lab without written permission from the Head Office? I ought to arrest you!"  
  
"No wait, hear me out first," Acer jumped in, "me and the rest of the scientists do have permission for this, just not written. This is actually a top-secret project we are doing, and if word of this gets out, everything will be ruined. We have worked long and hard, and have created the most powerful virus in all the net!"  
  
"I don't know about that," Billy frowned at him. What was he thinking? "This is very dangerous! If this dish breaks or cracks, this virus could leak out and start spreading across the Super Computer!" She shook her head. "I am going to have to confiscate this from scientists and the citizens of the Super Computer. Do you have any idea what this could lead to?"  
  
"No-wait!"  
  
Billy didn't listen to him. She grabbed the pitri-dish and started her way across the room. To her surprise, the virus inside suddenly multiplied even faster, and started cracking through the dish to get out!  
  
"It's growing too fast!" Acer cried out.   
  
"Aaagh!" Billy held out her hand to see that indeed, the virus had broken loose and making its way up her arm! "Acer!" She couldn't use her keytool; the Daemon-virus had already infected it. She could slowly feel as the virus sunk into her, taking over her body, her mind.   
  
Her screams brought other scientists into the room, and they were shocked to see their creation slowly infecting the guardian. Her whole body went limp and she fell on the floor. She tried to fight the infection, but she couldn't and it was too late. Everything went black.  
  
"Oh no!" A scientist cried out, running toward her. But Acer stopped him.  
  
"It's no use," he said, "Billy Disc has been fully infected. She's Daemon now."  
  
***  
  
"Hey, she's waking up."  
  
"Finally. She's been out all day!"  
  
"All night, I'd say."  
  
The doctors watched as the blond guardian slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. They had been operating on her ever since she had been brought in, hoping to rid the virus of her. So far, everything came out in failure. Maybe her waking up proved some sort of a chance that she'd been okay.   
  
Blinking, she said, "where am I?"  
  
"You're at the hospital, Billy," the head doctor replied, "are you feeling better? You had been infected, and hopefully you're okay now."  
  
She blinked again. One the side of her forehead, almost fully hidden by her hair, was the same, greenish-glow the virus had.   
  
"Billy?" another doctor asked.   
  
"I'm not Billy, I'm Daemon!" She rasped suddenly. She sat up abruptly and let out a powerful force from her hands, infecting the doctors. As she sat there and watched them choking and gasping to their deletion, she smiled. "Billy's left the building. And I have moved in." She started laughing in a low, throttle voice. Then it got louder, echoing through the hospital.   
  
  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
  
"Oh, it's such a beautiful day," Dot said, peering out the window at Dot's Diner. "It's a shame I can't go out. So much work holding me down."  
  
"Hey, don't let that bother you, sugah," Mouse said, sliding into the bench across from her. "I could help you know. A Command.com could use a few assistance here and there."  
  
Dot smiled. "As much as I'd love for you to help me out and everything, I'm worried about Bob. Isn't that game finished yet?"  
  
"Honey, Bob's a big boy now. He can take care of himself! Besides, Matrix is in there too. A boy's gotta have a hobby."  
  
"Where's AndrAIa?"   
  
"She went shopping. It's been a long time since she'd had a time to do that."  
  
"Ray?"  
  
"Surfing around."  
  
"Enzo?"  
  
"With Frisket somewhere. It's a shame he doesn't have a friend to play with, now that AndrAIa's all grown up." Mouse sighed. "Gosh, they grow up so fast."  
  
"Sometimes I wonder if Matrix and AndrAIa had a good child life," Dot sighed, putting her planner away. "For a kid, they sure had gone through a lot of tough times not every adult goes through."  
  
Mouse shrugged. "Hey. Now that Mainframe's peaceful now, those two can be as childish as they want, right?"  
  
***  
  
Los Angles. Cold and desolate. So quiet, you could hear a pin drop from the sky. It had been a long time since that City had been full of life and prosperity. Now, it was quiet, hoarded over the nulls.   
  
A light off in the distance. It started out dull then got brighter and brighter, until a giant portal appeared right out of the sky. A few moments later, it vanished, leaving a woman floating up in the air.   
  
"Hm," she murmured to herself. "What an awful place. The perfect spot for me." She looked around. She was wearing all black leather. A black body suit, black gloves, black boots. Sunglasses covered her eyes, and blond, wavy hair fell around her face and shoulders. It was plain that she was very beautiful, no matter how evil she was.   
  
"Now, let's see," she said, counting off the buildings. "Ini, Mini, Mieni, Moe." Her finger rested on Hexadecimal's lair. She smiled to herself.   
  
***  
  
Dot looked up as someone burst through the diner door, and her face lit up when she saw it was Bob and Matrix. Jumping to her feet, she flew into Bob's arms. "Bob! I'm so glad you're back!"  
"Uh…thanks…Dot?" Bob frowned at her, hugging her back. "Um, I left?"  
  
"She means the game, sugah," Mouse explained, "she was afraid you'd get nullified."  
  
Dot pulled away from Bob, frowning at Mouse. "What makes you think that? Can't I be glad Bob's back?"  
  
"That had to be the longest game I've been through," Matrix complained, striding over to the bar. He sat down and rested against the counter. "Where's AndrAIa?"  
  
"Shopping," Dot and Mouse replied at the same time. They grinned at each other.  
  
"Not anymore," A voice called out. They all turned to see the tall, slender game sprite making her way from the door, carrying three, loaded down shopping bags.  
  
Matrix's eyes nearly bugged out. "AndrAIa! Just how much did you spend?"  
  
AndrAIa shrugged. "Not much."  
  
"Not much? I don't think that's what you call-!"  
  
A sudden crashing at the front door interrupted him. Matrix flew to his feet, reaching for his gun, but Mouse saw him in time to stop him. They all looked to see Enzo skid to a stop.   
  
"Bob?" He called out. "Bob!" He saw the guardian and ran for him, jumping on top of him and crashing him to the ground. Sitting on his stomach, he said, "Bob! Something terrible has happened!"  
  
"What?" Dot cried, before anyone else could yell it out.   
  
"It's Hexadecimal," Enzo explained, climbing to his feet and helping Bob up. "She's gone random! Off-line! Basic! She's flying around Mainframe, destroying everything in sight! She's…she's crazy, Bob!"  
  
"Oh no," Bob said, looking at the others. "This is bad. Very-"  
  
"I'll call Ray!" Mouse interrupted, running out of the diner.  
  
"Let's go, AndrAIa!" Matrix cried. AndrAIa dropped her shopping bags and they both ran out the door. Dot wasn't far behind.  
  
Enzo looked up at Bob. "Well?" he asked, expectantly. "Are you going to finish you're 'this is bad, very bad' speech, or are you going to go out there and fix things?"  
  
Bob shook his head, then headed out after the others. Enzo followed, hoping for a chance to see some real action without Dot's having to kick him back inside.  
  
They were in a state of shock once they left the diner. It was true what Enzo had said. Hexadecimal had gone random. More random than she already was before. She was flying around, setting buildings on fire, scaring the citizens, and downright being destructive and violent.   
  
"Oh no, we've got to do something!" Dot cried.  
  
Just then, Ray surfed on down, 'parking' his board neatly on the pavement beside them. "Whoa, mate! What's going on?"  
  
"It's Hexadecimal!" Enzo cried, "what are we going to do?"  
  
Bob watched as Hexadecimal flew around, rampaging and destroying things. Was she…crying? From her now normal face, she looked like she had tears rolling down her cheeks. "Wait guys!" he cried, "I think something's wrong!"  
  
"Obviously!" AndrAIa cried.  
  
"No, I mean, something's wrong with her!" Bob finished. Releasing an energy beam from his hands, it hit Hexadecimal and froze her right there. Slowly bringing her toward them, he set her down on the ground before releasing her.   
  
"Dude," Enzo commented, "that was fast."  
  
Hexadecimal turned violently as if to destroy what she was about to destroy earlier, but when she saw Bob standing in front of her, she raced for him and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh Bob!" he cried, "it's all lost! It's all lost!"  
  
"Whoa!" Bob cried, slightly overtaken, "what happened? What's lost?"  
  
"M-my place!" She burst into loud sobs and buried her face in the guardian's shoulder. "Please! You must help me!"  
  
"Her lair?" The others exchanged confused looks. "How could it be lost?" Dot asked.   
  
"It's kind of hard to lose something like that," Ray wisecracked.   
  
"No, I didn't lose it!" Hex cried, suddenly angry. She looked up from Bob's shoulder, but Dot noted she didn't take her arms away from around him. "Someone took it from me!"  
  
"But who?" Matrix shrugged, "who would take your lair? You're the most threatening thing around here for Mainframers."  
  
"What did you say?" Hex bellowed. The others stepped back in surprise (except Bob, who couldn't anyway), but she smiled suddenly. "What a sweet thing to say! You should come over for tea someday." (Hey! That rhymed!) That seemed to bring her back to Earth. "If I had a place for you to come over to!" she hid her face in Bob's shoulder again.  
  
"Do you know who took it?" AndrAIa asked comfortingly, putting her hand on the 'once-was' virus' shoulder.   
  
"Who'd want to take anything from Hexadecimal?" Enzo asked.  
  
Hex apparently (and luckily) didn't hear him. She released Bob and stepped back. In her story-telling voice, she began. "Well then. I was just getting my cheese and crumpets out of the cabinet, and I remember Scuzzy was helping me- oh no! Scuzzy! Poor thing, he's left behind! Whatever am I to do! Anyway, that was when a brilliantly bright light shone through my lair windows, and I was almost blinded! Which, I might add, would be absolutely horrible if I was. The next thing I knew, this woman breaks through from the top, demanding I give up my lair!"  
  
"Oh no," Enzo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Dot nudged him to stay silent.  
  
"Anyway," Hexadecimal went on, "I tried to fight back, I really did. But she was so powerful, maybe as powerful as I was! Before I knew it, she had-aaaaagh!" Suddenly, she fainted and fell against Bob. He struggled to catch her and keep on his feet at the same time.  
  
"What happened, sugah?" Mouse asked, suddenly worried.  
  
"Come on," Dot said, helping Bob out, "we might as well get her to the Principle Office. Phong might be able to figure something out."  
  
  
  
  
"Well," Phong said, wheeling over to the anxious group sitting in the waiting room. "I'm sorry you guys had to wait out here, but now that I know her condition, I'm glad you did."  
  
"What do you mean?" Bob asked, standing up. "What did you find out."  
  
"Come on, honey, out with it," Mouse prodded, standing up also, one hand at her hip. She glanced warily at Dot who was pacing the room.   
  
"Well now, let's see," Phong said, looking at the clipboard in his hand, "it seems to me that Hexadecimal has been...infected."  
  
"Infected!?" They all cried in unison.  
  
"Hexadecimal? Infected?" Enzo grinned. "Cool!"  
  
"Can we see her?" AndrAIa asked, already making her way for the door.  
  
"Yes, yes," Phong nodded. But I suggest you guys all wear protective clothing so you wouldn't get infected."  
  
  
  
  
"Phong?" Dot asked. "This is ridiculous."  
  
They were all still in the waiting room, all wearing rubber suits that covered them from head to toe. There was clear rubber in the face area so they could see out and little speakers on the side of their heads so they could hear and be heard.   
  
"How do you walk in these?" Bob asked, taking a step forward. He nearly lost his balance.  
  
"It's only for now," Phong said, "even though you guys have a good chance of not catching the virus, this is for your own good. I don't want you guys walking back out of this building with the infection strand on you."  
  
"Hey!" Matrix cried out suddenly, pointing at Phong. "How come you don't have to wear one of these stupid things?"  
  
"Well…I stay in this principle office twenty-four hours a day. Besides, I'm old. What would it matter?"  
  
"Whoa!" Enzo cried. "Cool!"  
  
"Shall we go in?" Phong opened the door, and they all marched in, nearly tripping over their own feet. When they walked in, they found themselves in a slightly large operating room. Hex was lying unconscious on the bed. They noted that she had been strapped in, in case she were to fly into a rampage and try to escape.  
  
"Wow," Dot said, staring at the motionless body. "Is she…?"  
  
"She is fine, for now," Phong said, wheeling over to the bed. "Come Bob, tell me, what do you see?"  
  
Bob stepped next to the bed and examined Hexadecimal over. She seemed to be okay. "She looks fine," he confirmed. He frowned then when he saw something sticking out from under her forehead-covering headdress. "Wait a minute…"  
  
"Wait a minute?" Ray frowned. "What's happening?"  
Matrix walked over to join Bob, and together they lifted the heavy headdress off. To their surprise, just sticking out from her (hair?) was a glowing, green sort of radiation. Their eyes widened, and they exchanged glances. They were thinking the same thing.  
  
"Well?" Mouse asked impatiently. "What's the verdict? Will the patient live?"  
  
Without a word, Bob and Matrix turned to look at the others, worried expressions on their faces. "It's Daemon," Bob said.  
  
"She's here," Matrix finished.  
  
*****  
  
"I just don't get it," Dot said, "how could Daemon be here? It's unreasonable. How did she get here?"  
  
"Hey, don't look at me," Mouse spoke up. She shifted her position on the couch and threw a blanket over her legs to stay warm. "I blocked off the portal as well as I could, so it's not my fault."  
  
AndrAIa looked up from her sleeping bag at Dot, who was sitting on the other couch, surrounded with pillows. "Guys, all I could say is, this is one slumber party where we won't be able to sleep peacefully at."  
  
The other two agreed. To try to get their minds away from Daemon, Dot turned the channel, and they all started watching ER.   
  
"This is a pretty interesting show, you know," AndrAIa commented, reaching for the bowl of popcorn.  
  
Mouse sighed, still sensing the tension in the room. Reaching over, she grabbed the remote from Dot's hands and switched off the TV. Sitting up, she said, "look guys. Avoiding the problem isn't going to fix anything. If Daemon's here, then she's probably in Los Angles, since she had to have taken Hex's lair. What are we going to do about that?"  
  
"Hey!" AndrAIa cried, still wrapped up with the blank TV. "I was watching that!" She laughed when Mouse threw a pillow at her to shut her up.  
  
"I don't know," Dot said in a worried voice. She folded her legs and rested her chin in her hands. "We've got to do something. Daemon has to be after Matrix and Bob. They're the only guardians alive that haven't been infected yet."  
  
"Why don't you give the boys a call?" AndrAIa asked, "check up on them."  
  
"What do you suppose they're doing right now, anyway?" Mouse asked, grinning.  
  
AndrAIa shrugged. "Probably shooting hoops. I don't get why they like to do that. It's so dark outside you can't see the ball!"  
  
Dot sighed. "No, I won't call. I can't baby-sit them. Matrix is a grown man now, able to take care of himself. And Bob….well…he survived the web, what more could I say?"  
  
"But it's not a bad thing to check up on them," AndrAIa urged. "After all, you do have the right to worry."  
  
"Nah," Mouse smiled. "Besides, Daemon couldn't possibly beat those two! With Matrix's gun, Bob's protical, and my surfer, she wouldn't stand a chance!"  
  
The girls all laughed, glad to shake that tension off. But unknown to them, they were being watched. Through a glazed mirror. By the eyes of the exact person they were talking about.  
  
"So," Daemon said to herself, watching as the three girls started a pillow fight through her mirror. "They think I don't stand a chance. Well then, I'll just have to prove them wrong, now, won't I?" She started to laugh evilly. (I don't know, every bad guy has to have a part in the story where they laugh maniacally.) "What do you know? This mirror is worth something to me, even though that worthless loser of a virus isn't." She smiled and switched the mirror to its regular, reflective self.   
  



	2. Part 2

Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
The next second, everyone was busy. Dot had gone back to the Principle Office to check up on Hexadecimal. Bob, Matrix, and Ray used up three booths at Dot's Diner coming up with a plan, and Mouse and AndrAIa were sent to scout out Los Angles (and report the minute something strange happens). Enzo and Frisket went to run some errands done for Phong.  
  
"She's not getting any better, Miss. Matrix," a zero-binome nurse said as Dot walked into the waiting room. "She hasn't waken up yet or shown any signs of coming out of consciousness."  
  
"Hmm," Dot paused. "Okay then. But how is it possible for a virus to knock her out so harshly and quickly?"  
  
"Could've been an overdose of infection, Miss. Matrix."  
  
Just then, the door opened and a one-binome walked in. "Miss. Matrix?" He called.  
  
"Yeah?" Dot turned around to face him.  
  
"You have a phone call at your Command.com desk, Miss. Matrix."  
  
Dot sighed. "Well, I guess I'd better get that. But please, call me Dot."  
  
"Yes, Miss. Matrix." Without a second glance, he turned and left.   
  
Dot rolled her eyes, then turned to the nurse. "Watch over her, okay? Until I get back."  
  
"Yes, Miss. Matrix."  
  
Dot left the waiting room and crossed the Principle Office to her own private office. Walking inside, she noticed an unopen vidwindow above her desk, blinking. Sitting down, she opened it and Mouse and AndrAIa's faces popped up.  
  
"Dot," AndrAIa said, "I suggest you get over here to Los Angles right away."  
  
"Why?" Dot asked, puzzled.  
  
"Just do it, sugah," Mouse put in.   
  
"Why? What's there?"  
  
"Trust me," Mouse went on, looking up from the vidwindow. She and AndrAIa both glanced at Hexadecimal's lair right in front of them. The whole building was glowing with that same, Greenish radiation. It was like the whole thing was infected. "This is something you need to see for your own."  
  
********  
  
Without hesitation, Dot left the office, not hesitating to explain where she was going. The minute she stepped outside, she unhooked her zip board, jumped on, and flew off toward Los Angles.   
  
"What could possibly be the problem that Mouse and AndrAIa couldn't say over the vid-window?" Dot mumbled to herself. Looking down, she spotted her diner underneath. "Maybe I should tell Bob about this," she thought. "No, I'm sure things will be okay."  
  
*********  
  
Matrix gritted his teeth once more. Bob kept on changing the subject away from their planning. How were they going to figure out how to fight this Super Virus with Bob always drifting away on different subjects? He noticed that it was always about Dot, too. What was he trying to get at?  
  
Ray noticed it too, and frowned at Bob all the way from his side of the booth.   
  
"Dot sure looked pretty today," Bob said, "when do you think she'll be getting in here?"  
  
Ray finally gave up and set a hand on Bob's shoulder. "Hey, mate. Mind telling me just what is going on with you and the lady?"  
  
"Yeah, Bob," Matrix added, looking up from whatever he was writing on. "What is going on between you and my sister?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing."  
  
Ray and Matrix nodded doubtfully. "Yeah, right," Ray said. "No really. What's going on?" He grinned suddenly. "Got any special plans going on?"  
  
Bob shrugged. "I don't know right now." Reaching into his back pocket (Does his outfit HAVE pockets?), he drew out a small jewelry box. Opening it up, Matrix and Ray's eyes widened when they saw the engagement ring.  
  
"You're going to propose?!" Ray blurted out.  
  
"Shh!" Bob hissed, glancing around the diner. "Yes! But it's a secret for now! Just between the three of us, okay?"  
  
Matrix looked up at Bob. "Bob, why haven't you done it yet? What's taking you so long?"  
  
"I don't know," Bob replied sheepishly, tucking the engagement box away. "I guess I'm just nervous. What if she says no?"  
  
Ray chuckled. "Just think. You and Dot getting married. Mrs. Dot…" He trailed off. "Hey, wait a minute. What is your last name, mate?"  
  
"Uh…" Bob stammered. "Well…it's Bob."  
  
"Your name is Bob Bob?!" Matrix cried out, surprised.   
  
"Shh!" Bob glanced warily around the diner. "Actually, I don't have a last name. The producers of this show didn't bother to think up a last name for me, so I'm stuck with what I have."  
  
"Still," Ray said, "Mrs. Dot Bob?" He and Matrix exchanged looks, then they both started snickering.  
  
***********  
  
"Okay guys, what was it that I had to come over so quickly?" Dot asked, flying up to Mouse and AndrAIa. They both looked really tense.  
  
"That," AndrAIa replied. Spinning Dot around, she faced her toward the glowing lair.  
  
Dot gasped. "What happened?!"  
  
Hex's lair was totally ruined. The whole place was glowing with the same radiation Hexadecimal had on her forehead.   
  
"It's Daemon," Mouse explained quietly. "She's in there."  
  
**********  
  
Daemon was sitting in front of the same mirror. This time, her clothes had changed. Of course, the fabric was still leather, only the color was red. She had on a red leather skirt, tall red leather boots, a red leather tank top, and red leather gloves. Her black sunglasses were on her head at the moment, and she was gazing through the mirror. She was watching the threesome floating on the outskirts of her new lair.  
  
"Well," she said aloud. "What do you know. I think it's about time I did some damage with that pathetic Mainframe. Tell me mirror, which girl would effect that city the most if I killed her?"  
  
The mirror did a slow close up on one of the girls. At first, Daemon thought it was the girl dressed all in green with a trident in her hand, but the mirror moved over and finally rested on the girl dressed all in black. She had very short, dark green hair, and her skin was a mint green color.   
  
Daemon smiled.   
  
Just then, a woman walked up to the platform, and she spun around. It was Marci, one of the many guardians she had infected and brought along with her to Mainframe. "Yes Marci?" she said.  
  
"The guardians," Marci said, "we want to know when we'll be attacking Mainframe and taking over it."  
  
Daemon smiled slyly. "Soon. Soon."  
  
**********  
  
"Have you gotten any readings from that thing yet?" Dot asked. She herself whipped out her organizer and started typing.  
  
"I have," AndrAIa spoke up. "Nothing can get through it. It's like a force field. I've already scouted the edge of it. We can't even touch it without getting infected." She held up one of her starfish. One half of it was completely infected. She was making sure she didn't touch that part.   
  
"Sugah, throw that away," Mouse said, "That thing is making me nervous."  
  
"What'sa matter, Mouse? Scared?" AndrAIa teased, shoving the starfish in front of her face. Mouse cried out in surprise and nearly fell off her zip board.  
  
"Don't!" she cried.  
  
"Don't worry!" AndrAIa assured her. "I have to keep it though. If I drop it somewhere, someone else will get to it. I need to take it to Phong's."  
  
"Won't the infection grow, though?" Dot asked.  
  
"Sure. But it's slow, so we should be back in Mainframe before anything bad happens."  
  
Dot eyed the lair cautiously. "I don't think there's anything we can do now. We'll have to wait until another time, when the guys are with us. I don't think we can do it later today, either, because we need to check out that starfish and it'll take all second."  
  
"Then let's go," Mouse said. They all turned and flew out of Los Angles.   
  
**********  
Daemon was watching the threesome fly away through the mirror. Spotting the starfish in AndrAIa's hand, she closed her eyes. Grow, she concentrated. Grow.  
  
**********  
  
The infection on the starfish started growing rapidly, unknown to AndrAIa and the others.   
  
"That place was giving me the creeps," Dot admitted.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Mouse agreed.   
  
Suddenly, the virus infected the whole starfish, and started to spread on AndrAIa's fingers. Feeling the infection, she screamed out with surprise and dropped the starfish. Eyes wide, she inspected her hand to see that half of it was glowing that green radiation. "My hand!" she cried.  
  
"AndrAIa!" Dot cried.   
  
"It shouldn't have spread that fast, right?" Mouse cried.  
  
"It just happened too fast," AndrAIa said, holding on to her hand. "That was really strange, how did that happen?"  
  
"It doesn't matter," Dot said, "AndrAIa, we're going to Phong's. Now."  
  
**********  
  
AndrAIa was sitting on a table, her whole left arm under some sort of healing tool Phong had. Mouse and Dot were sitting beside her, watching him go over the readings.  
  
"Am I going to be okay?" AndrAIa asked, almost quietly.  
Phong frowned. "Well, it was lucky for you that you came before it spread too much. I managed to stop the infection, but it's still there, in your code."  
  
"Oh no," Dot whispered.  
  
"Well, is there a way to get rid of it?" Mouse asked.  
  
"Here." Phong handed AndrAIa a bottle of pills. "Two of these in the morning and afternoon should be good to keep it from spreading. Take it for three seconds in a row if you want to be rid of the virus for good."  
  
AndrAIa sighed with relief. "That's good. That's very good. Thank you so much, old friend."  
  
"Oh, it's perfectly alright. Now." The old sprite turned to Dot. "This…radiation on the lair. It's a force field you think?"  
  
"Yes," Dot nodded. "We can't get through it. I was thinking that tomorrow, we all go down to Los Angles and try to figure things out. It's too late this second to go."  
  
"You're right, my child," Phong nodded. "Tonight, I will try to get some things together that would be useful for you to take along."  
  
"That should be good," Mouse said, "the more stuff, the better, you know what I'm saying."  
  
AndrAIa took her hand out from under the healing machine and touched it gingerly. "Can I still use my hand?"  
  
"Oh yes. It's still spreading slowly inside you, that's what the pills are for. You're no longer contagious, if that's what you're asking."  
  
"Okay then." AndrAIa nodded.  
  
Dot turned to the others. "We'd better head home. Enzo would be needing help around now to fix dinner and I'd better go help him."  
  
Mouse nodded. "I'll see you two gals tomorrow then." They all walked out of the room and out of the Principle Office.  
  
************  
  
On her way home, Dot stopped at the diner to pick up some food. She was surprised to see Mike The TV the only one there.  
  
"Mike!" she cried, startled. "What are you doing here?"  
"Heeelo, Dot!" He cried, gleefully. He jumped up on the counter in front of her. "There's no need for picking up food tonight!"  
  
Dot frowned suspiciously at him. "Why?"  
  
"Because you have an invitation!" He handed her a card. Dot opened it to see a hologram of Bob standing there.  
  
"Hello, Dot," the hologram said, "I'm sorry I couldn't say this in person and had to use a crummy card. Anyway, I was wondering if maybe we have a quiet dinner at your place tonight. I'll bring dinner, so you don't have to do anything. I'll see you tonight at seven? Please let Mike know your answer so I know. Please say yes." With that, the hologram ended.  
  
Dot smiled to herself. "So," she said, "Bob wants a quiet dinner at my place tonight? What about Enzo?"  
  
"Enzo is staying over with Matrix and AndrAIa," Mike replied. Then suddenly he jumped down and tugged at Dot's sleeve. "Sooooo? What do you say? Will you go?"  
  
"Well…"  
  
"Oh come on!" Mike put on a pleading voice (and look). "You MUST! His heart would be just broken if you don't! Pleeeeeese say you will!" He started sobbing obnoxiously, and Dot could tell he was faking the whole crying thing. Then again, Mike was a very fake kind of person.  
  
Mike put on this show for so long, Dot started to laugh. "Okay, okay!" she grinned. "Go tell Bob I'll see him tonight."  
  
"Yessss!" Mike yelled, jumping onto the ground. "So um, what are you going to wear? Something sensuous? Something that would show off your-"  
  
"Mike!" Dot yelled, whapping him upside the head. "For your information, what I plan on wearing is none of your business. So please. Just deliver your message to Bob and go away!" With that, she turned and walked out of the diner.  
  
**********  
  
At her house, Dot quickly took a shower and changed into a red, flashy dress. It reached all the way to the floor with a long slit up to her left thigh. The neckline was V-shaped, and the whole dress was sleeveless.  
  
Checking the clock, she noticed that it was six-thirty. Exactly half a cycle until Bob would be there. Did she look okay? Dashing to a mirror, she checked her make-up several times before she was satisfied. Then she turned away from the mirror. To pass the time, she sat down in her family room and switched on the TV.  
  
She watched uninterrupted until the show 'Love and Merged' was over before glancing up at the clock. She was surprised to see that it was seven-thirty. Where was Bob?  
  
Frowning, she went to the front room and peered out the window. No car had passed. Then again, you never know with Bob's car. Sighing, she headed for the kitchen and opened the refridgerator. She was getting pretty hungry, but since she hadn't picked up anything from the diner, there was nothing whole-food to eat. Sighing again, she closed it and leaned against the counter.  
  
"Where is he?" she asked. "Where could he possibly be?"  
  
*************  
  
Bob hurried down the street, holding the flowers in one hand and his broken zip board in the other. That sure was funny. He could've sworn he had charged the zip board before leaving his house, why did it suddenly lose power on him like that? When he had checked, what was even funnier was that it looked like it was broken on purpose.  
  
"I just hope Dot can wait a few more minutes," he prayed. He quickened his pace.  
  
************  
  
The doorbell rang. Dot sighed with relief. "Finally! Boy, is he going to get it when he comes inside!" She reached the door and unlocked it. Then she pulled it open-  
  
To see a woman standing at the doorway. She was wearing black sunglasses, had long, wavy blond hair, and wore all black leather. Black short skirt, black high heels, black tube top, and black gloves. (of course.)  
  
Dot frowned. "Can I help you with something?"  
  
The woman smiled slyly. "Actually, you can." With a sudden, swift movement, she pulled a short sword from down her shirt and held it out threateningly.  
  
Dot gasped and tried to close the door, but the woman was too fast. With one single movement, she was inside, shoved Dot against the wall, and held the knife against her throat. Looking back to see the door was still open, she kicked it closed.  
  
"What are you doing?" Dot gasped, "let me go!"  
  
The woman laughed. "You're a pretty important person, aren't you?" She shoved Dot harder against the wall. "Aren't you!"  
  
Dot nodded, eyes wide. She didn't know how else to respond.  
  
"Well then, that's good," the woman's expression turned serious. "Because I'm here to kill you, and then things will be just find, won't it?"  
  
"W-who are you?" Dot stammered. She felt around the back of the wall with a free hand and her fingers closed around a picture frame she had hung there.  
  
"It really doesn't matter now, does it?" the woman took off her sunglasses, and Dot gasped when she saw the weird, green radiation in her eyes. What's more, she had some of it glowing around the front roots of her hair. That told her enough.  
  
"Y-you're Daemon!" Dot screamed suddenly. With a swift movement, she grabbed the picture frame and smashed it over Daemon's head. She yelled out with surprise and staggered backward. Dot took that as an opportunity and took off running.  
  
"Aaargh!" Daemon yelled, frustratedly. She stopped yelling suddenly and listened. She could hear Dot's footsteps running toward the back of the house, and she smiled. "You can't run from me, Command.com!" She yelled as she slowly made her toward the back of the house. "I have excellent hearing! Besides, with you gone, Bob would be more gullible, wouldn't he? Then he'd be another guardian to my collection!"  
  
Dot froze suddenly. Collection? Could there be more guardians back at Hexadecimal's lair then? She glanced around. She was in the family room now. There had to be a place she could hide!  
  
She turned around suddenly when Daemon walked into the room. Her eyes widened with fear. Looking around, she grabbed the nearest lamp and held it out protectively. "Don't come any closer!" she yelled.   
  
Daemon sneered. "Do you really think that's going to stop me?" She stared meaningfully at the lamp, and right in Dot's hands, it broke apart, cluttering the carpet floor.  
  
"Aaagh!" Dot cried out, surprised. She down at what was her only weapon, then back up at Daemon. "What do you want!" she demanded, nearly bringing tears of fear to her eyes.  
  
Daemon shrugged. "Not much. Just this whole system." She held up a hand and a small ball of glowing green radiation grew in her hand. It spun around, creating an energy ball. Dot's eyes widened as she watched. She couldn't run. She was trapped.  
  
"Trust me," Daemon said, "this is going to hurt you a whole lot more than it's going to hurt me." With that, she hurled the energy ball at Dot.  
  
**************  
  
Bob finally reached Dot's house. Before he rang the bell though, he took the engagement box out of his hands. Taking a deep breath, he rang.  
  
No answer.  
  
He frowned. "Dot? Dot are you in there?" He reached for the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. Pushing it open, he called out, "Dot? Your door's unlocked! Where are you?"  
  
No answer.  
  
He made his way slowly around the house. Beside the sudden silence, nothing else seemed wrong. The lights were on, nothing was out of place. Except for the shattered picture in the front room. Bending down, he picked it up to see it was a picture of little Enzo and Dot.   
  
Looking up, he set the picture back down and continued his way around the house. As he entered the family room, he saw Dot's red dress and her leg sticking around the corner. He smiled. "Dot?"  
  
As he fully entered the room, his smile turned to horror. Dot lay there, totally unconscious. "Dot!" He ran over to her and fell beside her. "Dot? Dot! Wake up!" He inspected her face, and was alarmed to find the glowing radiation outlining most of where her roots were. "Dot, oh no!" He listened for any sign she was still living. But she had lost half her code.   
  
.......TO Be Continued


	3. Part 3

Part 3Chapter Three

Part 3Chapter Three  
  
"Hmmm…." Phong frowned as he went over the readings he had taken from Dot's condition. Bob had brought her in immediately after finding her, and they ran scans over her. At that moment, she was resting in a hospital bed next to the room Hexadecimal was in, but so far, there were no changes.  
  
"How's she doing?" Bob asked, sitting beside Dot's bed and holding on to her hand. "Will she be okay?"  
  
"I cannot tell now," Phong said, "I am sorry, Bob. I don't know if she's going to make it."  
  
Bob looked down, shaking his head. He tried not to let the tears loose. "I shouldn't have come late," he said, "if I had only left earlier, this wouldn't have happened. I would've been able to protect her! Now look at her."  
  
Phong put a sympathetic hand on Bob's shoulder. "Go home, Bob," he said, "get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day for you. Everyone else is ready to check out Hexadecimal's lair."  
  
Bob continued to shake his head. "I can't go. I have to stay here with Dot."  
  
"But if your friends get hurt, then you will regret the fact that you stayed behind."  
  
Just then, a vidwindow popped up and AndrAIa's face appeared. "Bob!" she cried, "Is Dot okay?"  
  
Bob shook his head. "I don't know, AndrAIa. Phong doesn't even know."  
  
"Oh." AndrAIa looked down sadly. "Well, um, we're ready to head over to Daemon's…if you're ready, we're set to go." She looked up. "Are you up for this? I mean, are you going to be okay?"  
  
"Yeah…" he nodded. "I hope so. I'll meet you guys, okay?"  
  
"Okay. AndrAIa out." She turned away from the vidwindow and it closed. Bob turned to Phong.  
  
"I'm going," he said defiantly. "Watch for her, okay? Don't let anything bad happen."  
  
"Always, my child. Now get going, and stop that maniac from infecting other Mainframe citizens."  
  
********  
  
"Okay, sugahs," Mouse said, popping up a view vidwindow of Los Angles. They could all see Hexadecimal's old lair, still glowing with the green radiation. "We're all set to go. All we need now is Bob."  
  
"Here," Bob spoke up, flying over to Mouse, Ray, AndrAIa, and Matrix. Enzo was told to go to the Principle Office to visit his sister. "Are we ready to go?"  
  
Matrix nodded, but he wasn't making any eye contact with anyone. Looking down at the ground, he unsnapped his zip board and hopped on. "Well, are we going or not?" With that, he flew off into the sky.  
  
The others followed behind, Bob tagging in the back. He didn't feel all in the mood for anything. Matrix, on the other hand, looked like he was ready for some bloodshed. He hadn't said anything else on the way over.  
  
Ray noticed Bob's hesitation and slowed down until he had caught up with him. "Are you all right, mate?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Bob replied, trying to cover up. "I'm just trying to figure out what we do when we get there."  
  
Ray paused, giving Bob some quiet time. Then he said, "you know Matrix? He's taking it a lot harder than you. I'm proud of you, though. You're holding yourself together. I don't mean it's not okay to cry, that's fine, it's just that, just going out of control won't help anything."  
  
"Hey guys!" Mouse cried out suddenly. They had reached Hex's lair by then. She sounded surprised. They all looked at the building. The radiation was gone.  
  
"The force field!" AndrAIa gasped, it's gone!"  
  
"Fine with me," Matrix snarled, taking out his gun. "all the better to blow that piece of-"  
  
"Matrix!" AndrAIa cried, horrified.  
  
"- Into oblivion."  
  
"Now wait a minute, guys," Ray interrupted, surfing up toward the front of the group. "We need a plan before doing anything. Does anyone have any?" He paused, than looked directly at Bob. "Bob?"  
  
Bob looked skeptic as the group turned to look at him. "I don't know. I guess we just find an opening somewhere and figure out what she's doing in there."  
  
"Fine with me," Mouse agreed, taking out her Kitana. "Where do we start?"  
  
Before anything could be done, though, a huge cry came from the building, and a swarm of sprites came charging!  
  
"Oh my User!" AndrAIa whispered. She unhooked her trident. "There has to be about thirty!"  
  
"They couldn't be all the infected guardians in the net, could they?" Mouse asked.  
  
"No way," Ray replied, "not all of the guardians came. Who else would keep the net under Daemon's order?"  
  
Something snapped inside of Bob as he watched the guardian sprites advance on them, and he flew up beside Ray. His sadness had disappeared with the moment. "Guys," he said, "we can't just stand around here. We have to either fight or get help."  
  
"How?" Mouse asked, "there's far more of them than there are of us. We'd get deleted!"  
  
"I don't care," Matrix replied, turning on his gun.  
  
"It would get us somewhere if I went to get some more help," Ray volunteered.  
  
They all turned to look at AndrAIa. She glanced back at the oncoming hord. She knew there wasn't much time left. Looking back at her friends, she said, "divide and conquer."  
  
"Okay," Bob replied. "Guys, go! Ray, go send for help- and Matrix?" He stared testily at the renegade. "Don't do any full deletes until we know what we're doing."  
  
"Aye, mate." Ray turned and surfed off.   
  
"Okay," Matrix replied.  
  
They all turned to face the group, and they were already on top of them. They each carried a weapon. Either a keytool, or a gun. Bob began to feel crushed. Was this really the right thing to do?  
  
"Okay, big fellas, let's go for it!" she yelled, holding out her kitana and her fist containing the ring. Two guardians rushed at her, and she easily encased one in a force field from her ring and disengaged the other's zip board with her kitana. That was why she was most surprised when she felt something cut her arm from behind.  
  
"Owe!" she cried, whirling around. Her eyes widened when she saw a male guardian standing there. His keytool had been turned into a sword and he was pointing it at her offensively. "Turbo!"  
  
Turbo didn't even smile crookedly. He held the sword out firmly. "Copeland, gun," he commanded, and the sword turned into a gun. "Hello again, Mouse."  
Mouse stepped back, eyes still wide. "Turbo! What happened to you? I thought you weren't totally infected!"  
  
"Yeah, well things happen over time, and things change."  
  
Matrix was flying by at that time, sending five different guardians reeling off in different directions, and he saw Turbo. He was so surprised, he nearly fell off the zip board. His jaw dropped open. "Turbo!"  
  
Turbo looked up at Matrix and smiled. "Well, old friend. It's good to see you again. Or is it…enemy?"  
  
Matrix's eyes widened with surprise.  
  
*********  
  
Ray surfed expertly and smoothly through the Mainframe skies. He had to alert the Principle Office military, maybe they could do something about this. Glancing down, he saw the chief in command and swung down. "Sir!" he said loudly, "we need your help in Los Angles!"  
  
The chief looked up at him. "We hear you, surfer," he said, "but there's a problem with that."  
  
"Problem?"  
  
The chief guestured toward his men, and Ray followed his gaze. His eyes widened when he noticed that the rest of the soldiers had green radiation glowing from their temples. Surprised, he nearly fell off his board. "They've been infected!"  
  
The chief shook his head. "I'm sorry, surfer, but there's nothing we could do. I sent my troops there earlier this morning to see what was happening. Some of our traveling citizens had noticed something weird over at Los Angles, so we went to investigate. We only got infected, nothing achieved…" He paused. "One of us stumbled on some sort of starfish, and immediately got infected. The virus was only passed on to the rest."  
  
"What about you, chief?"  
  
The chief looked up sadly then removed his hat. Ray gasped when he saw the radiation glowing on his forehead.   
  
"We're not infected completely, surfer," the captain said, "but I warn you not to return here soon. We might not make it."  
  
Ray nodded. "Thanks, though. Try to stay in one place, okay? I'll tell Phong about this." With that, he turned and surfed away.  
  
*************  
  
Bob and the others were fighting through almost successfully, but more and more infected guardians seemed to be coming from the lair. That Daemon sure has an endless supply, he thought, as he used his powers to throw aside two guardians.  
  
Suddenly, a vid window popped up, and Phong's face appeared. "Bob!" he cried.  
  
"Phong!" Bob cried, dodging a guardian attack. "I'm a little busy here!"  
  
"Bob!" Phong ignored him, "one of the patients here has awakened, I think you'd better come quickly-" He couldn't finish. A guardian had thrown himself through the vidwindow, breaking the connection. Angrily, Bob froze him with his powers and called out to AndrAIa.  
  
"AndrAIa! Someone at the principle office as revived, I have to go check it out! It could be Dot!"  
  
AndrAIa glanced up during the lull of her fighting. "Bob! Go! We can handle this! If it is Dot, you should be there!"  
  
"She's right, Bob!" Mouse cried from her own fight. Matrix had thrown Turbo away from her and continued to fight him. "Get going! We can handle this!" She paused. "I hope."  
  
Bob glanced around. No further guardians were coming for the moment, and they had already said they could handle it. But could they? "Okay you guys," he said, "remember the comlink. If the strangest thing happens here, vidwindow me. The nano second something happens call, okay?"  
  
"Okay!" Matrix called, "Just go already!"  
  
Bob glanced around one final time, they flew off on the zip board.  
  
*************  
  
Phong paced wildly and impatiently in the front room leading to the hospital rooms. "Where is that guardian?" he cried for the fiftieth time. "You call asking for his aid, and what happens? He takes forever to get here!"  
  
Just then, the door opened, and Bob ran in, breathless. "I'm here!" he cried.  
  
"YOU'RE FIVE NANO SECONDS LATE!!!" Phong yelled in his face.  
  
Bob looked at him, startled. "I'm sorry! I had to-"  
  
"Never mind that. Follow me." With that, he led Phong toward the rooms.  
"I came as fast as I could, honest," Bob said, "is Dot okay? Has she said anything since she woke up? Is she still infected? She can walk still, right? Can she fight? How is she? When will-"  
  
"Dot?" Phong frowned at Bob. "Who said anything about Dot?"  
  
Bob frowned down at him. "But if Dot's not awake, who…?" He trailed off as Phong opened the door to the hospital room. Sitting up right on the bed, checking over her nails, was Hexadecimal.  
  
Bob's jaw dropped open as he stepped inside. "Hexadecimal!"  
  
Hex looked up and smiled. "Well Bob! I'm so glad to see you! How are you? Tell me, tell me, what have I missed? Nothing much?"  
  
Bob looked at Phong questioningly, too surprised for words.  
  
"She hadn't been infected as much as Dot has," Phong explained, "she's fully healed now thanks to me, and she's fully operative."  
  
"But Dot…?"  
  
Phong looked toward the next room, sad. "I'm sorry Bob. Not yet."  
  
Bob followed the sprite's gaze, equally as sad.   
  
"Uh, fellas?" Hex spoke up, "what are you talking about? Can't I know? Come on guys, fill me in, I really want to know."  
  
Phong opened his mouth to reply, but Bob walked past him and toward the next room. The old sprite watched sympathetically as the guardian opened the door and entered Dot's room.  
  
Bob closed the door behind him, and looked at Dot. She was still out cold, sleeping peacefully. Suddenly more sad than before, he walked over to her and sat beside the bed. He watched for what seemed forever, before reaching into his belt and taking out the engagement box. "I…I don't know what to say," he began, "or if you could even hear me. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you last night. I could have…protected you, made you safe. But because of my stupid zip board…" he paused, straightened up. "My zip board…" He glanced around the room. "It had suddenly stopped working. My zip board was rigged! Someone knew this was going to happen!"  
  
***************  
  
Mouse stopped and glanced around. The seemed to be doing alright. All the attacked and infected guardians had flown back to the lair, including Turbo, after Matrix gave him a taste of asphalt. Before long, they all had retreated.  
  
AndrAIa and Matrix flew over to Mouse. "Think we got them all?" she asked.   
  
"Think so," Mouse said, breathlessly.   
  
"I doubt it," Matrix replied, still keeping his gun out and ready.  
  
They floated there and waited. "Maybe…we can advance?" Mouse asked. She glanced at the others. Matrix nodded.  
  
"Slowly," he said, "and steadily."  
  
They began to slowly advance on the lair, their weapons out and ready.   
  
Suddenly, the force field dropped. The radiation vanished.  
  
The three froze in their places and glanced warily at each other. What was happening?  
  
"What was that?" AndrAIa finally said.  
  
"Matrix flew forward a bit until he was in front of the girls. "Something bad," he said, "Very bad."  
  
A small door opened on one side of the lair, and a figure came flying out. It took awhile before it was close enough to be described, but it was clear that she was a woman. She was wearing white leather. A white skirt, white midriff tank top, white boots, and white gloves. Her eyes were covered with sunglasses.  
  
"Get back," Matrix ordered under his breath, and they slowly retreated backward. They didn't fly away, though. They stood there, waiting.  
  
"Hello!" the woman called out. "I'm a guardian. We surrender! Please! Leave us in peace!"  
  
"Don't," Matrix said gruffly, stopping Mouse and AndrAIa from advancing. "We can't trust her."  
  
Daemon smiled to herself. "What's wrong?" she called out loudly.   
  
"Declare your file name and format, guardian!" Matrix called out. Mouse and AndrAIa remained silent.  
  
There was a long pause. Daemon hid a hand behind her back and slowly worked up an energy ball. "My name is Daemon," she called out, "and I'm a virus!" She reached out and hurled the energy ball at the three.  
  
"Look out!" Mouse cried, trying to push the others away. But it was too late. They were hit.  
  
*************  
  
Bob returned to Hexadecimal's hospital room to see Phong explaining things out to her. "Phong," he said, "can I talk to you? Outside?" Without waiting for an answer, he stalked out of the room and waited for Phong to catch up. Phong followed, closing the door behind him.  
  
"What is it, my child?" Phong asked, tapping his fingers together.  
  
"Look," Bob explained. "I'm glad that Hex is alive and conscious. She's my friend, and I respect her...now. But I have four of my friends out there, fighting for their lives, and what can we possibly do with her? Daemon is out there. If she could infect her once, she could do it again."  
  
Phong sighed heavily. "I'm sorry that Dot hasn't awakened yet. But at this process, I'm hoping she doesn't wake up so soon."  
  
Bob looked at him, baffled. "What?"  
  
"Bob, with Dot fully infected the way she is, if she wakes up, we don't know what she could do. Attack the Principle Office, fly into a rampage. We don't know, and that's what I'm afraid of."  
  
Bob stared at him. "But what can we do? We-" He was cut off when the door opened and Ray surfed in. He jumped off and picked up his board.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt mate-" he began, but he stopped. "Bob! What are you doing here? I thought you were at Los Angles with the rest!"  
  
Bob frowned at Ray. "Phong called me here. I thought you were getting help for Matrix, AndrAIa and Mouse!"  
  
"There's only three out there fighting against Daemon?" Phong gasped.  
  
"That's the problem," Ray said, breathless. "The only real help is the military forces, and they have been infected when they went to Los Angles earlier this second. There is no help. I thought Phong might have some ideas, so I surfed here."  
  
Bob stopped talking, and gazed at Ray with disbelief. The men were thinking the same thing. "The others," they said in unison. Without another word, they jumped onto their zip boards (or surfboard, in this matter) and flew out of the Principle Office.  
  
*************  
  
They flew to Los Angles in silence, both dreading the worst. Neither one knew what to say or what to do, and staying silent helped them think better.  
  
"Do you think they made it?" Ray asked finally in a low voice.  
  
"I don't know," Bob admitted. "I sure hope they did."  
  
It wasn't long before they reached the lair. But what they saw stopped them right in their tracks.  
  
The whole place was empty. The shields were still up around the lair, but absolutely no one was flying about.   
  
Ray's eyes widened. "What happened?" He asked, "Where are they?"  
  
Bob closed his eyes and called up Glitch. (Whom, now at this moment, is INSIDE Bob.) He waited as his powers made a scan of the lair before giving him the final results. Opening his eyes again, he turned to Ray. "They're inside," he confirmed.


	4. Part 4

Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
AndrAIa, Matrix, and Mouse were led blindly down the long hallway leading into the lair. Since Daemon had taken over the place, she had redesigned the building. There were separate rooms now, hallways leading to different areas. The main room, where the mirror was, was still the same, she didn't change anything. The hallways were dark though, and barely lit with fire torches, so the three had a hard time seeing anything.   
  
Daemon was leading the three down the hallway, although she wasn't holding on to them. Five infected guardians were dragging them down, and Daemon was just showing them the way. "Take the man into the jail chamber," she instructed, "take the other two to the infection room."  
  
"Infection room?" AndrAIa gasped.  
  
"Infection room!" Mouse cried, "what do you think you're doing?" It was no use. They couldn't fight back, and they were forced the rest of the way by two guardians. It took three guardians to hold back Matrix, as they took him to the jail cell. Daemon smiled, then turned to go to the mirror room. "Be careful with him," she called back, "I'm not done with him yet."  
  
**********  
  
Ray looked at Bob. "I can't believe this! Now what? How can things possibly go worst? First Daemon comes here, infects Hexadecimal, then Dot, the military gets infected so Mainframe doesn't have a chance, and now this! I tell you, what could go worst?"  
  
"Here's some food for thought," Bob spoke up, "I'm the only guardian that isn't infected now. Hopefully Matrix isn't yet, but there isn't a good chance he'll get away from it."  
  
Ray groaned and glowered at Bob. "You just had to remind me of that."  
  
"It doesn't matter right now," Bob said, "Let's just try to get inside."  
  
**********  
  
Dot groaned in her sleep, and Phong looked up at her, startled. He had been standing by her hospital bed, watching over her, seeing if there had been any change. This sudden sound was definitely something different. Standing up a little straighter, he craned his neck to see what was going on.  
  
Dot groaned again and shifted her position. Her eyes still closed, she mumbled, "Phong?"  
  
"I'm right here, my child," he answered, putting his hand on her arm for comfort. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Dot apparently wasn't wide awake. She groaned again, and seemed to drift away into sleep. Phong wasn't alarmed though. Dot was sleeping normally now. How long though, he didn't know.  
  
"Phong? Are you busy?"  
  
Phong turned to see Hexadecimal standing in the doorway. She seemed a bit worried seeing Dot's now motionless body in the hospital bed. "My, dearie me, Dot! What has happened to you?"  
  
"She has been infected, Hexadecimal," Phong explained, "I suggest you be careful around here. Daemon has effected her more greatly than you, and I'm afraid it's going to take Dot awhile to wake up."  
  
Dot moved again, and this time rubbed her eyes. She didn't open them though, and she didn't sit up. She seemed more alive though. "Phong?" She asked, more louder. Her voice was groggy, like as if she had slept a hundred years.  
  
"I stand corrected," Phong stated.  
  
Hexadecimal approached the bed. Phong was about to stop her, but decided better of it. "Dot?" she said, "are you still alive?"  
  
Dot groaned again, obviously disturbed by Hexadecimal's question. With her eyes still closed, she answered with "what?"  
  
Hexadecimal snapped her fingers in disappointment. "Darn."  
  
Phong looked at her, alarmed, but Hex seemed to forget she had even said that.   
  
"Dot?"   
  
They all turned to see little Enzo, standing in the doorway where Hexadecimal once was. His eyes were wide with not knowing what to think. Seeing Hexadecimal so disappointed made him unsure of what to do.  
  
"It's okay, Enzo," Phong assured him. "Come on in. You're sister's coming back."  
  
"Really?" Enzo's eyes were still wide, only this time with eagerness. He bounded over to the bed. "Dot! Dot, it's me, Enzo!"  
  
"Enzo?" Dot moaned and turned toward him. Slowly, she opened her eyes, grimacing as the room light shone right in her face. "Oh my User, that is bright!"  
  
"Well," Hexadecimal said, suddenly bored, "I think I'll go out in the waiting room and watch TV. That at least is more fun than watching Dot coming back from the dead." With that, she turned and stalked out the door.  
  
"Well," Phong said, almost too loudly, "I'm glad she's gone." Turning to Dot, he said in a more comforting voice, "how do you feel, Dot?"  
  
"Better," Dot replied in a muffled voice. She stretched. "I feel like I've been asleep for a long time. What happened?"  
  
"You had been infected by Daemon herself," Phong replied, "I'm surprised you recovered so quickly. But, either way, I'm going to have to run more tests on you, just to make sure you're okay."  
  
Dot nodded, slowly sitting up. She smiled at Enzo, but he suddenly seemed to remind her of something. "Where's Bob?" she asked suddenly.  
  
****************  
  
Matrix couldn't see past the iron, steel doors locking him in the prison jail cell. He could just make out two guards standing on the other side, green radiation glowing from their temples. He struggled against the chains on his wrists again, but no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't give away.   
  
He was down there for a long time, until he heard someone walking down stone steps into the jail area. It was a woman, and he recognized it as the beautiful Daemon. He couldn't believe he thought this virus was beautiful. But then again, Daemon wasn't artificial like Megabyte and maybe Hexadecimal. She was like a sprite, with sprite features and at least real hair. That was something Megabyte and Hex just didn't have. She was wearing a new outfit again. Every time he saw her, it was something different. This time it was black leather. Black boots up to her knees, a black skirt, black midriff top, and gloves. Her sunglasses were shoved back on her head, revealing beautiful green eyes. They weren't radiating this time. That only seemed to happen when she was working her power or really angry.  
  
She said something to the guards, too low for Matrix to overhear. He watched as they opened the jail cell and she walked in, swinging her hips as she went. She didn't stop until she was right in front of him. Bending down until she was eye-to-eye with him, she said, "comfortable?"  
  
Matrix sneered at her. "Where's AndrAIa and Mouse," he demanded.  
  
"Oh, they're where every newly infected being goes," Daemon grinned. "So, how are you doing? I'm much more interested in your area. Don't you just love the dungeon?"  
  
Dungeon, he thought. Another name to call this rat hole. He didn't answer. He was staring over where the guards were. There was a table propped up against the stone wall, and his gun was resting on top of it. If only he could call it over, he'd be out of this-  
  
"You know, you and Bob are the only ones keeping me from taking over the Net," Daemon stated, interrupting his thoughts. "Now that I have you, all's left is Bob and he shouldn't be too hard. And just to let you know…" she smiled, "it's not too bad having you around."  
  
Matrix was afraid that she was going to suddenly attack him, but she didn't. She stood up, stared down at him for a minute, then turned and left the room. She climbed the stone steps until she was on level ground, and walked to the mirror room. Once inside, she checked to make sure she was alone. Good.  
  
"Now," she said aloud, "I have Matrix within my grasp. Now for the Blue Boy." Striding over to the mirror, she sat down. "Show me Dot," she commanded. That girl was still infected by her, no matter how much she had recovered from it. Maybe she could use it too her extent. Since her infection was growing within the Command.com…  
  
She waited as the mirror showed her a vision of the hospital room. Dot was alone in the room, for once, walking around in a hospital gown. This was perfect.  
  
Keeping her eyes closed, she concentrated. Concentrated on seeing what Dot was seeing. She felt herself go perfectly still. And the next thing she knew, she felt herself standing. Opening her eyes, she found herself looking out into a hospital room. She was standing in the middle of it, and she could feel the paper material of the hospital gown against her green skin.  
  
Green?  
  
Daemon raised her arms, and smiled when she saw they weren't her own. Her head felt very light, and she reached up to feel short cropped hair. Glancing around for a mirror, she looked through it. Unfortunately, the reflection wasn't of Dot, which was what she had hoped it would be. Instead, Daemon's regular face stared back at her.  
  
"Well," she said aloud. Dot's voice drifted out of her mouth. "I'm Dot in every way…except for her reflection." She jumped when the door opened, and a boxed-sized sprite wheeled in. He had a long neck, and his head reminded her of a bike seat.   
  
"Dot," he said, looking down at the clipboard in his hands. "How are you feeling now?"  
  
Who was this guy? Daemon thought. Then she smiled. The Command.com. Dot was in the Principle Office, and now she knew who the Command.com was. This was very useful. She was about to answer, when she heard a banging noise. Like as if someone was knocking on big, heavy doors. She looked around, but the noise was coming from nowhere in the room. That's when she realized it. The banging noise was coming from her lair, and it was slowly bringing her back to her own body.  
  
Closing her eyes, she let herself return, and when she opened them again, she was back to sitting in front of Hexadecimal's mirror, staring at a vision of Dot standing in the hospital room. This time, she could see that weird looking sprite questioning her. She looked up suddenly as the knocking noise grew louder. Someone was knocking on her room door.  
  
"What?!" She shouted angrily. How dare someone disturb her! She had just discovered her power of possession, and someone had to ruin it.   
  
"We have captured two intruders, Your Excellency," a voice called out.  
  
Intruders? Daemon frowned and stood up. "Bring them in!"  
  
Almost immediately, the doors opened, and she could hear mumbling and arguing coming from the other side. Two huge sprites were pushed in, (they looked a lot more like scrap metal) and they fell down off the only wheel they used to get around on. The door slammed shut, causing the two to jump back to their feet (uh..wheels) and turn toward her.  
  
"Hey!" The red one hollered, "What has happened?"  
"I do not know," the blue one replied.  
  
"I can't believe we have been treated like this-"  
  
"Oh no, not at all-"  
  
"It's terrible, simply terrible-"  
  
"Disgusting-"  
  
"Awful-"  
  
"Where are we now?"  
  
"I do not know, do you know-"  
  
"No I do not. I asked you."  
  
"Well I don't know, do you?"  
  
"I asked you first-"  
  
"No I did."  
  
Daemon had started getting a headache from the constant bickering between the two…things. "Quite!" She shouted suddenly, "Shut up!"  
  
They immediately quieted down, and looked at her with wide eyes. Daemon frowned at them, trying to figure out what they could possibly want. They each had the distinctive icon on their chests, telling her that they were possibly one with the good guys. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice still stern.  
  
"Uh…" They exchanged glances. "I am Hack-" the red one said.  
  
"And I am Slash!" The blue one chimed in.  
  
"And we are here-"  
  
"Yes, here we are!"  
  
"-To tell you that what you are doing is not good-"  
  
"Not good at all-"  
  
"For the Principle Office."  
  
"Right."  
  
Daemon stared at them, studying them, trying to figure out what exactly they were worth. Were they important? Probably not, they looked like they would fall apart any minute if you slapped them. "Do you think I care?" she asked, menacingly.  
  
"Uh…"  
  
"Um…" They exchanged that glance again.  
  
Daemon was starting to get angry. These bumbling idiots were the reason for interrupting her? Slowly, her anger boiled down. "Well," she said, "do you want to be useful then?"  
  
"Not for you," Hack and Slash said in unison. Even though they were timid about that, Daemon was surprised they had the guts to stand up to her. She stood up straighter.  
  
"Well," she said, "you have a choice then. "Either you get the hell out of my lair and never come back, or you stay and agree to work for me. I'm being nice at this moment, but don't expect from me again!"  
  
Hack and Slash exchanged nervous glances.  
  
***********  
  
"Dot?"  
  
Dot blinked suddenly and looked down, surprised to see Phong in the room. How did he get there? Frowning, she looked around. What happened? "Yeah?"  
  
"I asked you a question," Phong repeated.  
  
"Oh," Dot's voice sounded faraway. He did? She didn't remember anything!  
  
***********  
  
Bob and Ray had been circling the lair for what seemed like cycles before Ray found something useful. "Hey, mate!" He called from the other side of the building.  
  
Looking up, Bob flew over to him on his zip board. Joining Ray, he found him looking at a spot in the shield.  
  
"Look there," Ray said, pointing. "A weak spot in the shield. I could pass my hand right through it and touch the building without getting infected. Watch." Before Bob could utter a protest, Ray jerked his arm threw it, and his fingers brushed against the building. The guardian was surprised to see that the shield didn't do anything to Ray.   
  
"Amazing," Bob whispered, as Ray pulled his arm out. But, just to me on the safe side, he scanned Ray's arm, just to make sure he wasn't infected. Luckily, he wasn't.  
  
"See what I mean?" Ray asked, "Maybe we could do something about this."  
  
"Maybe," Bob agreed.   
  
Suddenly, a vid window popped up in front of the two men, and they were both surprised to see AndrAIa and Mouse through it. Their faces lit up.   
  
"Mouse!" Bob cried.  
  
"AndrAIa!" Ray cried.   
  
"Shhh!" They both hissed in unison. They glanced around warily before looking back at the vidwindow. "You've got to be very quiet," AndrAIa whispered, "we're in some sort of room. We're not the only ones though, about ten other people are in here, and they look like they're in worst shape than we are."  
  
"Was Matrix able to get out?" Mouse asked, hopefully.   
  
Bob frowned. "No, I think he's still in there. Isn't he with you?"  
  
"No." AndrAIa shook her head. She looked very worried. "Daemon ordered him to the jail chambers. We've got to be very quiet. The guards might come back and give the prisoners in here another dose of infection. They're trying to infect us slowly at a time. Too much at a time might kill us, and she wants us alive for something. I don't know yet."  
  
Bob's heart sank. He was reminded of Dot. She had an alarmingly big dose of infection, and she hadn't waken up yet. Or at least, what he'd known.  
  
"Have you two gotten infected yet?" Ray whispered.  
  
The girls were silent for a moment. Then they both pushed back a clump of hair off their face. The men gasped. Each one had a slight radiation glow on their temples.  
  
"On no!" Ray cried.  
  
"Do you know if there's a way we could get in there?" Bob asked.  
  
"Uh…yeah," Mouse nodded, "There's a weak point in the energy shield. I overheard some of the old prisoners talking about it."  
  
"The prisoners are guardians like you guys," AndrAIa added, "they haven't been fully infected yet. But from the stories we've heard, Daemon isn't very merciful. Obviously."  
  
  
"Okay," Ray nodded, "is there anything else about the energy shield? How do we get through?"  
  
They were about to answer, when a slamming noise sounded in the background and they looked up. Their eyes were wide.  
  
"No time!" Mouse hissed.   
  
"Daemon's key," AndrAIa rushed. She was trying to get as much information in as possible. "We'll get it and give it to you-"   
  
The connection broke.  
  
Ray and Bob exchanged worried glances.  
  
**************  
  
The vidwindow vanished just as the doors opened, and AndrAIa and Mouse jumped to their feet, eyes wide. Luckily, no guards came in. They just shoved a big bulk of a sprite inside, then slammed the door closed again.  
  
The sprite stumbled from the force, and turned to bang on the door. It didn't even leave a dent. "You'll pay for this!" He growled.  
  
The girls recognized the voice and sighed with relief. "Matrix!" AndrAIa cried happily, and ran to him, giving him a big hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!"  
  
"What happened to you?" Mouse asked.  
  
Matrix sat down against the wall and AndrAIa sat beside him. AndrAIa sat in front of them. "Are you guys all right?"  
  
"We'll be okay," AndrAIa assured him, trying to sound confident. It was hard though. Her voice was barely keeping from cracking. "What did Daemon do to you?"  
  
"I don't really know," Matrix admitted, "she wanted me to join her, I guess. They have my gun."  
  
"Did you get infected?" Mouse asked.  
  
Matrix shook his head. "I was fighting too much, they couldn't keep me down long enough to. So they just threw me here until then.  
  
Mouse was scared, but she tried not to show it. The others were scared too, she could feel it, but someone had to act brave for them, make them feel better. "We'll make it," she said, "for you Matrix, that is. AndrAIa and I, I'm not sure about that."  
  
"Bob and Ray need to get in here," AndrAIa told Matrix. "There's a key Daemon has. I heard the older prisoners talking about it. If one of us could get that key from her, we can give it to them through the vidwindow, and they could use it to unlock the shields and get inside."  
  
"But who's going to get it from Daemon?" Matrix asked.  
  
Just then, the doors opened, and a guard stepped in. Surveying room, he said loudly, "Matrix. Daemon wants to speak with you."  
  
They exchanged a look, and Mouse smiled. "Right on cue," she said.


End file.
